Georgia officer who fatally shot black man resigns after murder indictment
By Rich McKay
ATLANTA (Reuters) - A white police officer facing murder and other criminal charges in the shooting death of an unarmed, naked black man quit his post with an Atlanta-area law enforcement agency on Tuesday, his attorney said.
Robert Olsen worked for the DeKalb County Police Department for eight years. His resignation followed his indictment last week by a Georgia grand jury over the death of Anthony Hill.
The March 2015 shooting has drawn wide attention amid heightened scrutiny of the use of deadly force by U.S. police, particularly against minorities.
Olsen shot and killed Hill, a 27-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran who was nude and acting erratically in the parking lot of an apartment complex near Atlanta. Hill suffered from bipolar disorder and was having a manic episode, his family has said.
A grand jury last Thursday indicted Olsen on two counts of felony murder, two counts of violation of oath and one count each of making a false statement and aggravated assault.
His attorney, Donald Samuel, declined to elaborate on the resignation, but said Olsen would be exonerated of criminal wrongdoing. Olsen is free on $110,200 bond.
Olsen told a civil grand jury last year that Hill was coming at him in a hostile manner and disobeyed commands to stop, making him feel threatened.
Major Stephen Fore, spokesman for the DeKalb police, could not immediately be reached for comment. The department has an internal investigation into the deadly shooting.
(Editing by Letitia Stein and Peter Cooney)
